walking off the baby weight!

About 3 weeks after David was born, I started a walking routine with a good friend of mine, Ashley. She & I made a deal while I was still pregnant, that we would walk together as soon as I was ready. The weekend after David was born, Ashley got herself a new pair of walking shoes & broke them in, getting all revved up for getting in shape. I am so grateful to have a girlfriend to keep me on my toes & on point for reaching my goals. I was afraid of getting stuck in a rut early & not getting a hold of this baby weight early. (Heck, who am I kidding.. there was more than baby weight before I even got pregnant) I've actually already lost the weight I gained for my pregnancy & am working on my cozy winter layers... hehe :)

Ashley's son is 10 months old & we really wanted to make sure that we were getting out of the house, not only for us, but for the boys too. I'm sure the same 4 walls every day are just as boring for a kid as they are for a stay-at-home mom. There's a nice green belt near our home, with a wide paved walkway that goes for quite a long way (lots of path for those ambitious mornings). We've been taking advantage of the beautiful pathway, and pretty sunny summer mornings. Heck, I'm up early feeding the baby anyway, so I might as well throw on a pair of tennies & hang out with my friends, right? :) We have another girlfriend who has joined us on a few mornings.

Anyway, here are a few pics from when we were out early last week. We're going to explore some other walking locations starting this week, but this is our main route. I'll share our adventures in walking & health progress too. I'm liking what the scale has to say so far, so we'll see what the difference is at my 6 week postpartum appointment. :)

this is making me hungry!

I just have to say that I feel like super-mom! (For like 2 minutes, but that's enough for me). This weekend, I was determined to sit down & get a meal plan laid out... & I did! I have 4 weeks of dinners all set out, including new recipes to try from our ward cookbook & a couple I've been wanting to try. I only plan dinners since Jamin takes leftovers or a sandwich for lunch & I generally do the same. Breakfast is cold cereal most of the time. Jamin is very good at getting something for breakfast... I am working on it (doing better lately since I've been walking in the mornings). Saturday supper is generally not planned since the day tends to be crazy, Sunday is often spent with Jamin's family & we only plan one Monday night meal in 4 weeks, since we get together with 3 other couples on those nights & we rotate who's house we go to for dinner.
Some of you probably don't know that I've gone all nerdy with the meal organization. I have a spreadsheet all set up with one page listing every meal we make (so I don't have to stare at the computer screen trying to figure out what I actually cook during a week) (& it's organized by main meat ingredient), several blank weekly worksheets to list what's going on during a particular day, the plan for dinner & needed ingredients (helpful in case we need to make a grocery stop or can prepare foods for 2 dinners in one night, depending on ingredients), & a grocery list organized by category. The categories are helpful to make grocery trips more efficient - no going back & forth to different aisles & less likely to purchase items not on our list.
Anyway, it's a nerdy blog post, but I'm just happy to be on the ball. ;)

One Month!

I always believed when people told me time would fly, but wow. Yesterday, David turned one month old! It's exciting to watch how much he's grown & changed so much over these few weeks. I'm so in baby-love!

Families can be together forever

Jamin & I attended a friends wedding this morning at the Portland Temple, where we were married 2 1/2 years ago. My wonderful friend, Ashley offered to come along to take care of David while we were inside for the sealing. She is so awesome! On the way to the temple, I realized what a great photo opportunity today would be! It was cloudy this morning, but bright - perfect picture taking weather! We even all dressed in coordinating clothes (totally not planned, but worked out great). It was really special to see our friend get married today. What a beautiful reminder of our own wedding day. I am so grateful that our love, our dear little family, our sacred marriage, is eternally bonded. :D

2 week Appointment

David had his 2 week check-up on Tuesday. He was excellent! Our easy-going little guy was just the same with the nurse & dr. His weight went from 9 pounds, 3ounces at birth to 10 pounds, 1 ounce. They also measured his length at 22 inches (he was 20.5 inches at birth). It's funny to me that he's apparently so big... he still seems so tiny (but crazy to think he was taking up all that space in my belly!) He'll be headed back in August for his 2 month appointment & his first set of shots. Lots to look forward to!

David's First Bath!

Since his cord fell off last Tuesday & we passed the one week mark from his circumcision, David was ready for his first real bath on Thursday, July 3rd! He was a little trooper for his first bath at home! It probably helped that he was kinda tired, but he seemed totally cool with getting all cleaned up (even when I poured water over his head). Jamin decided to be the cameraman as I took over (like I know what I'm doing either! lol) We've since taken him in the shower once too. He doesn't like the water showering on his head though.

Happy Birthday, David

Jamin was so excited to have his son born on his birthday. Apparently my dad's dad was born on his own father's birthday.. funny coincidence! Here are our first "baby makes 3" pictures

Belly Shots

I didn't regularly take pictures of my growing belly, but here are a few shots that did get caught on camera:

This first picture was mostly for fun, since you can't tell how much belly I'm sporting. This was from my birthday, when Jamin surprised me & took me to the zoo (totally nerdy, I know, but it was a lot of fun - even in the rain!) It was a couple weeks after the 5 month mark, when we knew we were expecting a boy. We already had his name picked out & called him David at home, but it was a lot of fun keeping it a secret from everyone!

Jamin's mom or dad took this picture at their home on Easter. I was about 7 months along. Gotta love the prego acne. oh well. I had an awesome pregnancy... I feel so blessed!

I love this picture of Jamin & I. My baby shower was the first weekend in May, when I was about 8 1/2 months along. My friends, Joy, Tammy & Ashley, threw a fun shower at Tammy's house. This picture was taken in her backyard.

My brother & sister flew into town on my mom's birthday, which was two days before my due date on the 18th. We made lunch plans to get together on my due date with Nana. Needless to say, my due date came & passed. David was born 6 days after his due date.

Hello World!

Online world, that is. Well, I've started, maintained & deleted a blog once before. It was for my cardmaking & became too cumbersome to maintain & wasn't for anyone in particular. This blog, however, serves a completely different & more worthwhile purpose. As you may all know, Jamin & I welcomed our first child, David, into the world, just less than 2 weeks ago... Instead of forwarding billions of pictures for every cute thing he is bound to do (& everything he does is cute!), we would like to keep our friends & family updated via our family blog, here. Through all of this, we can keep a family journal of sorts, as well. So enjoy the pictures & ignore the posts as you please! :)